AEROSPACE

U.S. Offers F-18s to Singapore: The Clinton Administration offered to sell 18 McDonnell Douglas fighter jets and missiles in a deal valued at $1.5 billion, despite a controversy over the caning punishment of an American teen-ager in Singapore. The Pentagon informed Congress that Singapore is also considering whether to purchase the F-18s instead of buying a similar number of Lockheed Corp. F-16 fighter jets at the same cost. Timothy Chorba, the nominee as U.S. ambassador to Singapore, said the Administration intends to go ahead with the sale of jets to Singapore despite the flogging of the teen-ager. Chorba told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that it was too soon to speculate on how the flogging of Michael Fay would affect relations between the two countries.